


Closure

by RagingLethargy (raginglethargy)



Series: The Date Series [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e18 What's Next?, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Season/Series 03, post-318
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raginglethargy/pseuds/RagingLethargy
Summary: Eddie looks around Athena and Bobby’s backyard and his heart is full.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: The Date Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741876
Comments: 17
Kudos: 381





	Closure

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote and posted this prior to the finale airing on the West Coast, so this is only loosely based on what I think will happen in the finale.

It’s been a stressful week. A stressful month, really.

Eddie looks around Athena and Bobby’s backyard and his heart is full. He can’t remember ever being this content. Things with Shannon had always been overdramatic, even before he enlisted. To be honest, Eddie’s pretty sure if Shannon hadn’t gotten pregnant, they never would have lasted as long as they did.

But the family he’s forged here at the 118? This feels right. And he’s been wondering for awhile how someone new would fit in. It’s not like he’s actively looking, but he also doesn’t want to give up on finding love. He’s just been so focused on Christopher these last few years, it hasn’t really been a priority.

Eddie spots Bobby hugging May. It’s a quiet, private moment. They’d moved off to the side, and Eddie’s pretty sure May’s holding a graduation gift from Bobby in one hand. Seeing Bobby living his second chance, molding a new life for himself and the people he loves, makes Eddie think that maybe he can do that too.

Hen and Karen look cozy, sitting in chairs pulled close to each other. Since Denny’s off playing with Harry and Maddie’s currently getting her baby cuddles in, they’re getting a little break to focus on each other. Chim’s playing peek-a-boo with Nia and with the way Maddie’s looking at him, Eddie suspects she might be interested in more than just a temporary baby.

Christopher’s familiar squeals of delight come from across the yard. Eddie realizes he hasn’t been paying attention to where Christopher is, but knowing Buck’s there to keep an eye out too allows Eddie to put his guard down a bit. Sure enough, Buck’s flying Christopher around the backyard. Eddie’s impressed. He knows Buck works out, but Christopher’s getting big.

After awhile Buck tires out and sets Christopher down. Christopher heads over to join Harry and Denny who are building something with legos. Buck makes a bee line for Eddie, reaching behind him to grab the beer he’d abandoned a half hour earlier.

“You enjoy your beer warm?” Eddie asks as Buck takes a swig. Sure enough, Buck’s nose crinkles up in displeasure.

He sets the beer back down and grabs Eddie’s beer out of his hands and drinks that instead. “Much better. Thanks.”

“Any time,” Eddie remarks dryly.

Buck surveys the remains of May’s graduation party. All of the extended family had left about an hour ago, but as usual the 118 can’t seem to get enough of each other.

“It was a good party,” Buck observes.

“Yeah, it was. A nice way to end a crazy week.”

“Crazy month, more like.”

“I was just thinking that.”

Buck does the math in his head. “Was it really only three weeks ago that you were down in that well?”

“Yeah…I guess so.”

“And just a few days since the trail derailment.”

The elephant weighs heavily between them.

“Since Abby,” Eddie say bluntly.

“Yeah. Since Abby.”

“She’s…different than I imagined.”

Buck chuckles. “You imagined her?”

Eddie fidgets. Sure he’d imagined Abby. She was all he heard about his first few weeks at the station. This invisible girlfriend of Buck’s that had him all tied up in knots. Honestly, he and Buck had been in pretty similar situations at the time. Except Eddie knew exactly where to find his missing partner, who just so happened to be in the vicinity. But they’d both been left by people and found themselves in a weird sort of limbo.

“I guess I more just wondered who could have possibly sent you reeling so hard.”

Buck laughs at that. “Yeah. I guess at the time, she was the only one who really saw me for me. And now…well, that’s not true anymore. So seeing her again, it didn’t feel the way I thought it would.”

“How did you think it would feel?”

“I don’t know…” Buck searches for the word, “Exciting? Or like I’d found some missing piece? Maybe even scary. But mostly it just felt anticlimactic.”

“What’d you expect? That she’d beg you to take her back?”

“No. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that particular fantasy.” Buck ducks his head, embarrassed to be revealing something so personal. “I guess I thought I’d get some answers.”

“You didn’t?”

“Not really. But I did get closure.”

“What kind of closure?”

“Like I know now that it never would have worked out with Abby. Not just because she seems to have found the right person for her, but who I am now is so far from who I was back then with her. And I like who I am now. I don’t think Abby and I would work now. I mean, we didn’t really even work back then, now that I’ve got some perspective.”

Some last tether breaks inside Eddie. To hear that Buck is done waiting for Abby to come back. To hear that he’s not waiting for the other shoe to drop anymore. That's what he needed to know. It’s not something he’s thought a lot about, but it’s now clear as day to Eddie that he almost laughs aloud at how blind he’s been.

Buck is back to watching their family fondly and he looks as content as Eddie feels so Eddie just says it.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

Buck looks at him. He doesn’t look surprised or confused or any number of things Eddie had imagined he would look like at this moment. He looks…like the last tethers just broke inside him too. Like he’s piecing together the puzzle of their lives and everything’s fitting exactly as it should.

And then Buck says, “Let’s do it,” and Eddie can only think _what took us so long?_


End file.
